A Hint of Normality
by ChasingWildflowers
Summary: Annabeth's POV after Rachel arrives in The Last Olympian.


**Disclaimer: I don't own anything. The characters belong to Rick Riordan, and any glory goes to God.**

**Author's Note: Thanks for looking at my story. I've had this idea in my head for a while, and I finally got around to typing it out. This is what I think Annabeth was thinking during **_**The Last Olympian**_** after Rachel shows up in the helicopter. Hopefully you enjoy it! Thanks again**

**A Hint of Normality**

Why does _she_ keep showing up? I ask myself as I walk away. The tears filling my eyes. This is silly. I shouldn't be crying over Seaweed Brain.

_I just need some time alone_, I decide making my way through the crowd of demigods. I find a store and slip inside when no one's watching.

Upon entering I find that it's a furniture store. The only occupant is an employee that doesn't look much older than me standing asleep behind the counter.

I walk to the back of the store where no one will be able to see me from outside. It's a little ironic that it's the bedroom section.

I pick the most teenage-like room that I see. I walk into the space. I can almost imagine that I'm coming home after a long, but normal day at school. I have _normal _friends, _normal _parents, and a _normal_ life. And for a moment, I feel almost like a _normal_ teenage girl, curling up on the bed to cry over the boy that's never going to recognize me as anything more than a friend because of the girl who has what he wants.

And that's just what it is. Percy wants what _she_ has. She's just a normal girl. It's what most demigods dream of, just a hint of normalcy in their lives. There's no normality with me. Everything's just easier for him with Rachel because he's a _coward._ I feel my anger and resentment welling up and the tears spill over. Why couldn't _I_ be normal?

I mean, if he liked me, wouldn't he have picked up on all the hints by now? I mean I kissed him. Seaweed Brain or not, how else could he interpret that?

If I was a normal teenage girl, my normal mom would probably show up around now with homemade cookies and lemonade. She would brush my hair out of my face and tell me that it would all be okay soon. She would give me a hug and some tissue to blow my nose and wipe my tears away. She would suggest that we go do something fun together. _It'll be just the two of us,_ she would say. We would window-shop and talk about how clueless boys were. Then she would tell me that things would work out if they were meant to be. She would kiss my forehead, smile at me, and tell me that I would always be her baby girl.

Later that night we- me, my normal mother, and my dad- would sit at the kitchen table and eat dinner together. Dad would goof around and tell me that either way I wouldn't be dating any boys until I was 30, and Mom and I would share a look and laugh at him. We would talk about great I was doing at school, and they would ask me about architecture. We would clear the table together and tell little stories from our day. Dad and I would laugh at Mom when she tells her story. _I mean that spider of a woman obviously couldn't weave better than I could._ The night would end with them telling me how proud they were of me and what a beautiful young lady I had become. I'd go to sleep and wake up to another normal day.

But I don't have _normal_ friends, _normal _parents, and a _normal _life. What I have is far from it.

There is hardly any regularity in my days. One day I might be going to school in San Francisco, staying with Dad, trying to get along with my stepmom and stepbrothers; the next I would be running from monsters, never staying in one place, and trying to just stay alive.

Percy's just running from who he really is and the problems that he really has whenever he's with Rachel.

I can't run from my problems. It's my fatal flaw, pride. I try to face them and fix them. Most of the time, though I won't ever admit it to anyone, I fail miserably at it.

That's the problem with Percy. I've _tried_ to fix things with him. I've dropped every possible hint that I can think of, and still, nothing's getting into his brain of seaweed because he's too busy with his mortal friend, Rachel.

I cry in exasperation. This is irrational. I'm _not_ a normal teenage girl, so I shouldn't be crying over this like I am one. Nothing in my life will ever be the way I want it to, and I need to learn to accept that.

I stand up, and walk to the mirror beside the bed. I place my features into a calm mask, but for now I can't do anything about my puffy red eyes. I don my owl helmet and pull it over my eyes until the redness isn't as noticeable.

Don't run from your problems. I tell myself as I walk out of the store.

**Author's Note: Thanks for reading! I hope you liked it. If you have any other particular scenes you would like me to write in Annabeth's POV please tell me by review or you can PM me! Please review! –ChasingWildflowers**


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